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Stratford, London
Stratford is a district in East London, England, in the London Borough of Newham. It is located east northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an agrarian settlement in the ancient parish of West Ham, which transformed into an industrial suburb following the introduction of the railway in 1839. As part of the growth of London in the late 19th century, Stratford significantly expanded and increased in population, becoming the centre of administration of the Borough of West Ham in 1886 and it has formed part of Greater London since 1965. The more recent economic history is underpinned by a move away from railway works and heavy industry towards becoming a significant commercial and cultural centre. Stratford is the location of the London Olympic Park and is currently experiencing regeneration and expansion linked to the 2012 Summer Olympics. History Toponymy The name is first recorded in 1067 as Strætforda and means 'ford on a Roman road'. It is formed from Old English 'stræt' and 'ford'. The crossing is that of the London to Colchester road over one of the many branches of the River Lea to the west of the settlement. The nearby settlement of Bow — over the River Lea and now in Tower Hamlets — was also known as Stratford and a variety of suffixes were used to distinguish the two. The settlement to the east of the Lea was also known as Estratford referring to the location east of the other Stratford, Statford Hamme alluding to the location within the parish of West Ham, Abbei Stratford, referring to the presence of Stratford Langthorne Abbey and Stretford Langthorne. Economic development An early industrial undertaking at Stratford was the Bow porcelain factory, which despite the name, was on the Essex side of the River Lea. Using a process that was patented in 1744, Edward Heylin and Thomas Frye operated a factory near Bow Bridge called "New Canton" to produce some of the first soft-paste porcelain to be made in the country.Victoria County History - A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2 (1911), Industries: Pottery - Bow Porcelain (pp. 146-150) The site of the factory was to the north of Stratford High Street near the modern Bow Flyover; it was the subject of archaeological excavations in 1921 and 1969.The Newham Story - Image Gallery - Stratford E15 - Bow Porcelain - 34 By the early 19th century, Stratford was an important transport hub, with omnibuses and coaches running into London four times every hour and coaches from East Anglia passing through hourly. The route into London was plied by Walter Hancock's steam coaches for a period during the 1830s.Victoria County History, A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973): West Ham - Transport and Postal Services (pp.61-63) A small dock and a number of wharves were operating on the River Lea at Stratford by the 1820s, serving the needs of local industries. However, the opening of the nearby Royal Victoria Dock in 1855 and the subsequent construction of the Royal Group of Docks (at one time the largest area of impounded water in the world), increased Stratford's importance as a transport and manufacturing centre.Victoria County History, A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973): West Ham - Wharfs and Docks (p.61) In 1839, the Great Eastern Railway built a railway station at Stratford, which was the point at which their two main routes diverged; one going from London to Cambridge and the other to Colchester. A railway works and depot for engines and rolling stock was established by Great Eastern in 1847 to the north of Stratford. At its peak, the works employed over 2,500 many of whom had homes, along with other rail workers, in the town that developed nearby. It was originally called Hudson Town, after George Hudson, the "Railway King;", but the settlement quickly became better known as Stratford New Town, which by 1862 had a population of 20,000.Edward Walford, Old and New London: Volume 5, 1878 (pp. 570-576) During the lifetime of the Stratford works, 1,682 locomotives, 5,500 passenger coaches and 33,000 goods wagons were built. The last part of the works closed in March 1991.The Newham Story - Image Gallery - Stratford E15 - Stratford Railway Works - General Offices Building Local government Stratford was one of three ancient wards in the large parish of West Ham, in the Becontree hundred of Essex. It came within the Metropolitan Police District in 1840.http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42758 Despite forming part of the built up area of London the parish remained outside the statutory metropolitan area established in 1855 and the County of London established in 1889. Instead, administrative reform was undertaken in the area in much the same way as a large provincial town. A local board was formed in 1856 under the Public Health Act 1848 and subsequently the parish was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1886. In 1889 the borough was large enough in terms of population to become a county borough and was outside the area of responsibility of Essex County Council. Stratford formed the centre of administration of the county borough and was the location of the town hall. Geography Stratford is located in the northwestern extremity of the London Borough of Newham and borders to the west with Hackney Wick in the London Borough of Hackney and Bow in London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and to the north with Leyton in London Borough of Waltham Forest. Within Newham, Forest Gate is the east, West Ham to the southeast and Plaistow to the south. The River Lea and the complex network of Bow Back Rivers mark the western limits of the area. Royal Mail has given the postcode E20 to the Olympic Park and Stratford City developments, this was only used by the BBC TV soap EastEnders for the fictional suburb of Walford.BBC News: London - Olympic Park to share EastEnders' Walford E20 postcode Accessed 19 March 2011 Economy Both of Stratford's shopping centres: The Stratford Centre and the recently opened (2011) Westfield Stratford City are located on either side of Stratford station. Westfield Stratford City, home to 300 stores, is one of the largest shopping centres in Europe. The older centre has a range of accessibly-priced stores, its indoor and outdoor market stalls, and the 'inshops' network of small retail outlets. The centre occupies much of the 'island site' created in the 1960s by the surrounding gyratory traffic system. Redevelopment Stratford has been a focus of regeneration for some years, and is the location of a number of major projects: *Westfield Stratford City is a multi-billion pound scheme to regenerate the 73-hectare brownfield railway lands to the north of the existing town centre. The vast shopping centre reported to be bigger in size than Bluewater was opened in September 2011. It has anchor stores for John Lewis, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer, in addition to other household names like Apple and Primark. The centre boasts a range of restaurant outlets, a cinema and casino, making it a leisure destination in itself, as well as its shopping facilities. Nearby will be a new purpose-built community of 5,000 homes, offices, schools, public spaces, municipal and other facilities destined to become a major metropolitan centre for East London, all to coincide with the opening of the Olympics in July 2012. *The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will have their main base at the Olympic Park, which will contain a significant number of venues including the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, and London Velopark. The athletes Olympic Village will be restructured post the games as the new East Village development, providing 3,500 homes, half affordable and half private. After the Olympics the legacy plans include the largest new urban park in Europe for over a century, and the new Chobham Academy. Transport Stratford is a significant transport hub with five major stations. :Stratford ''Regional'' [[Stratford station|Stratford Regional]] is located on the National Rail Great Eastern Main Line, North London Line as well as the Lea Valley Lines. National Rail services: Greater Anglia and London Overground regularly serve the station to London Liverpool Street, Romford, the East of England, Stansted and Southend airports, and other parts of north London. London Underground's Central and Jubilee lines both serve the regional station and link Stratford to Oxford Street, Wembley Stadium, Epping and Canary Wharf. The Jubilee line was extended to Stratford 1999. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) was extended to Stratford in 1987, and to Stratford International in 2011, with services to Poplar, Canary Wharf, Lewisham, London City Airport, the Excel Centre, Beckton and Woolwich Arsenal. A bus station is located adjacent to Stratford Regional with London Buses and National Express coach routes towards central, northeast London and Stansted Airport.http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/stratford-2242.pdf :Stratford International and Stratford High Street Stratford International, located to the northwest, is on the HS1 line from St Pancras International to Kent, and is served by Southeastern domestic high speed services; so far, no decision has been made for international Eurostar services to call. The International and Regional stations are linked by a branch of the Docklands Light Railway – opened in August 2011 – which also serves a new DLR only station at Stratford High Street to the south of Stratford. :Maryland The eastern part of Stratford is served by Maryland railway station. The Liverpool Street to Shenfield via Ilford and Romford service known as the Shenfield Metro service and runs every 10 minutes throughout most of the day. This service also calls at Stratford and is planned to be incorporated into the Crossrail service by 2017. :Pudding Mill Lane Pudding Mill Lane is in the south of the Olympic Park. Served by the Docklands Light Railway to Stratford, Poplar and Canary Wharf. It is planned to be re-sited south as part of the Crossrail project. Although the station is very close to the main stadium, it will be closed during the 2012 Olympics, as it is far too small to handle the numbers of passengers expected to attend the Games. Landmarks Church of St John the Evangelist Stratford Broadway, the main thoroughfare, is dominated by the church. It was built between 1832 and 1834 by Edward Blore in the Early English style using grey brick. The most notable feature is a three stage tower, surmounted by a spire which is supported with flying buttresses. It is a Grade II Listed building.British Listed Buildings: Church of St John the Evangelist, Stratford It was built as a chapel of ease to save worshippers the journey to the ancient parish church of All Saint's West Ham; St John's Stratford became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1844.Victoria County History, A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973): West Ham - Churches (pp.114-123) The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was baptised in the church as an infant in August 1844. The naturalist and social reformer Antonio Brady is buried in the churchyard; an extension to the chancel of the church was constructed in his memory in 1884.St John's Church, Stratford E15: A Brief History Of The Parish - The 19th Century In World War II, the church crypt served as an air raid shelter for local people, despite bomb damage to the building itself. A new extension was added in 1998.St John's Church, Stratford E15: A Brief History Of The Parish - The 20th Century Martyr's Memorial Within the churchyard of St John's is a memorial to the Stratford Martyrs, who were burned at the stake in 1556 during the reign of Queen Mary. The memorial itself is octagonal with terracotta plaques on each face, surmounted by a twelve sided spire. It was unveiled in 1878.British Listed Buildings: Martyrs' Memorial, Stratford Gurney Memorial Drinking Fountain Directly to the south of the churchyard stands a 12.80 metre tall granite obelisk, which was erected in 1861 as a memorial to the Quaker philanthropist and abolitionist, Samuel Gurney (1766 to 1856). The plinth carries two brass drinking fountain heads on opposite sides, and the inscription; IN REMEMBRANCE OF SAMUEL GURNEY / WHO DIED THE 5TH OF JUNE 1856 / ERECTED BY HIS FELLOW PARISHIONERS AND FRIENDS / 1861 / "When the ear heard him then it blessed him"Visual Arts Data Service - Public Monuments & Sculpture Association: Samuel Gurney Memorial (a paraphrase from the Book of Job, Chapter 29 verse 11). King Edward VII Public House Opposite St John's Church stands an early 18th century pub with original pedimented doors and early 19th century bay windows. It was originally called "The King of Prussia", either in honour of Frederick the Great or else after King Frederick William IV who visited the area in 1842 to meet Elizabeth Fry, the prison reformer. However, the name was changed at the start of World War I in 1914 for patriotic reasons.EXPLORING EAST LONDON - STRATFORD, WEST HAM: King Edward VII It is a Grade II Listed Building.British Listed Buildings: King Edward Vii Public House 47, Stratford "Robert" the tank engine A 38 tonne 0-6-0 saddle-tank steam locomotive named "Robert" is displayed in Meridian Square, the forecourt of Stratford Station. It was built in 1933 by the Avonside Engine Company of Bristol for use at the Lamport Ironstone mines railway near Brixworth, Northamptonshire. It was previously an exhibit at the North Woolwich Old Station Museum, but moved to Stratford in 1999. In 2008, it was removed to the East Anglia Railway Museum at Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station near Colchester; there it was cleaned and repainted at the expense of the Olympic Delivery Authority and returned to Stratford in 2011.2012 Media centre - Press release, 05 April 2011: "Landmark steam locomotive Robert the Engine back home" Olympic Stadium Culture and Stratford bus station in April 2012.]] Stratford's Cultural Quarter, adjacent to the shopping centre, is home to several arts venues, bars and cafes: * Theatre Royal Stratford East – NB: 'Stratford East' is not a location; the 'East' is used to differentiate between Stratford (east London) and Stratford-upon-Avon * Stratford Circus * The Discover Children's Story Centre is a partner in the Cultural Quarter Stratford has been the location for numerous films, notably Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) and Bronco Bullfrog (1970). The promotional film for the Beatles' "Penny Lane" single was filmed in and around the southern part of Angel Lane, demolished in the late 1960s to build the Stratford Centre. Education ]] The University of East London (UEL) has a major campus in Stratford, whose main building, University House, is a historic listed building dating from the 19th Century. The adjacent Passmore Edwards Building is also one of the area's most historic and beautiful buildings, with colourful frescoes and domed roof. In addition, Birkbeck College, part of the University of London, has launched courses in the area, initially using space provided by UEL, with a view to constructing its own campus in Stratford. A new university is planned on the Olympic Park following the 2012 Olympic Games. People from Stratford :See Category:People from Stratford, London See also *Stratford City *Stratford Martyrs *Maryland, London *List of people from Newham *List of schools in Newham References External links *Description of Stratford in 1876 *Archaeology at the Olympic site *History of Stratford site with links to historic Post Office directories *A Brief History Of The Parish Of Stratford *Local guide to and blog about contemporary Stratford Category:Stratford, London Category:Districts of Newham Category:Areas of London Category:Major centres of London